Sunday's resignation of the Sudanese civilian Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok deprives coup leaders of their face of being the natural continuity between the revolution that toppled longtime strongman Omar el-Bachir in 2019 and a junta that's since scrapped power sharing and jailed key architects of the transition to democracy.
Why did Hamdok quit? Why now? Does his departure in any way tip the scales in a brutal showdown where protesters continue to defy a lethal crackdown on dissent? How to make the military return to barracks when it's held the reins of political and economic power for so long?
To break out of its isolation, the junta has cut deals with armed groups at home and courted foreign powers abroad. How much clout do Egypt and the Gulf states have? Or the US and European states, who are pressing for the coup leaders to concede? With fighting raging in neighbouring Ethiopia, the last thing the world wants is a second civil war in the Horn of Africa.
Produced by Alessandro Xenos, Sophie Pizzimenti and Léopoldine Iribarren.
